Claymore  Mercenaries
by Bondius
Summary: One year after the War of the North, the Organization is planning its next step.
1. Act I Scene I: Phantom's Den

Act I: Scene I

Phantom's Den

As the winds of war settled down in the northern realms, the frozen lands were returning to the once-forgotten calm. Words of the surviving Claymores returning reached for every village. Once the lands were left unprotected, as a result of the northern campaign, yomas started to show up everywhere. The lands were unsafe. Tales of Awakened Ones and other black figures wandering around stroke fear into the heart of the humans. The calm wind was just the eye of the tornado.

More and more people returned to town with stories about battles between yomas, Claymores and cloaked warriors. They spoke of how the cloaked warriors helped the Claymores at first then mercilessly killed them. More and more bodies turned up in the wilderness, only to disappear before the next dawn. Everyone was wondering who were these warriors, what side they were on and what did they want.

In the eastern lands, somewhere in the woods along the path, stood firm and proud the Bluerock Inn, built for traveling merchants who went towards the holy city of Rabona. It was a merry place, where everyone drank and laughed as they shared tales of their past with other travelers. The few guards, thick walls and iron gates of the inn were all the protection they needed. Even if they didn't know, in one of the small rooms stood a girl, all alone, waiting for the perfect moment to move out. With silver eyes and blond, spiky hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in black leather armor and a black cloak, she stood with her back to her huge sword stuck in the floor. A short knock on the door broke the silence in the room …

"Who is it?" she asked.

"The innkeeper" said a voice behind the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a grizzled old man stepped in with a plate of food.

"I brought you the food, Miria."

"Thank you, old man. You're very kind."

"It's my pleasure," he said with a smile, "I don't mind that you're a Claymore. Your kind saved me and my wife years ago. The town was attacked by bandits and thanks to a Claymore who returned and fought the bandits, we're still alive. Even though she came back for a little girl, I still thank the Gods for her action back then."

Miria closed her eyes and gave the innkeeper a faint smile.

"I'm sorry to trouble you," she said, "you've kept my presence secret all this time, I will leave soon."

"Oh, you're always welcome. It's been just two months, just knowing a Claymore was here made me feel safe." replied the innkeeper.

"I heard the rumors so I must act before the organization gets me. I will leave at midnight when nobody notices." she said while grabbing the plate off the table.

"Have a safe trip, Miria."

"Have a long life, old man."

With that, the innkeeper stepped outside and closed the door behind him, leaving Miria once again all alone in the room. Quietly biting on the meat, she planned in mind her next action. The time she met up with her old friends was now, when their joined forces could face the unseen threat. The north was the arranged place of meeting, near their old battlefield at Pieta.

Midnight came. Downstairs, the patrons were too drunk to notice anything so Miria pulled the sword out of the floor, placed it into the scabbard and jumped out the window. It was pitch black as the moon was hidden behind thick clouds, only the lamps pointed the way to the exit.

"Ex-Number 6, "Phantom" Miria, right?" said a voice from the shadows.

With one swift stroke, Miria drew the sword and pointed it in the darkness.

"I wouldn't suggest you do that." said another voice from the opposite direction.

Carefully lowering the sword, Miria stepped a bit back.

"I take it you're from the organization." she said on a cold tone.

"Hehe … so … we finally found the phantom's den."


	2. Act I Scene II: The Cloaked Warriors

Act I: Scene II

The Cloaked Warriors

There was a tense atmosphere around Miria. Behind her stood the inn with glowing lights in the windows and merry songs echoing through the yard … and before her stood two operatives from the organization, so deep in the darkness you could only see their eyes. She knew something was wrong, she knew she was in danger, for those eyes were the very color of the Claymores, silver. After one year of hiding among the population, she was finally discovered by the lackeys of the organization.

"Ex-number 6, Miria …" said one of them again.

"How come I didn't sense your yoki?" she asked with the same serious tone.

"Oh, that was my doing." answered the other cloaked Claymore. "I was trained for this; it is pretty fun to sneak up on others that sense yoki."

"So you're the ones killing Claymores." replied Miria.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"So are you here to slaughter me like you did with the others?"

"Huh? No, no, no, no, no!" quickly said the first one.

"Heh, that was amusing but we should drop the act." said the second with a slight giggle. "Ok, we had our fun …"

"What are you laughing about, you damn traitors!" said Miria.

It grew even harder for Miria to breathe. Faced with two warriors who could hide their presence so good, every slight move could be her last so she took great precautions and chose every word carefully.

"Yes, we are traitors, but we have our reasons." replied the second one.

"Then we might be in the same wagon"

"Maybe so. But whose side are you on, Phantom Miria?"

"I'm on my side." she answered. "If you intend to kill me then I suggest we get started, this conversation leads nowhere."

"Most of our conversations lead nowhere, right?" said the first Claymore.

"So … you're not on the side of the organization, yet you're responsible for the deaths of Claymores across the land. Why are you betraying your fellow sisters?"

"Fellow sisters?" asked the first cloaked Claymore on an annoyed tone. "Listen here, woman, I'm nobody's sister, got that?!"

"Uhm, calm down, you're overheating again." said the second one. "I think it's time we showed our faces. The game is over, we need to start thinking serious."

A sudden breeze blew around the inn as the metallic sounds of the boots hitting the stones grew closer in a calm manner. The two pairs of silver eyes were gazing upon the face of Miria, who stood like a rock against the sea. The soft light that surrounded the area started to slowly illuminate the two faces. Suddenly the second Claymore stopped and held it's breath.

"What's wrong?" asked the first one.

"They're close, I felt a faint trace of yoki."

"Did they find us?"

"No, they seem to be going in another direction, I'm keeping our yoki suppressed so much there is a very small chance they'll sense us."

"What about Miria?"

"I'm suppressing hers since we met, just so she doesn't attack us."

"What are you talking about?" asked Miria who suddenly felt that she couldn't release even a bit of yoki.

"I can suppress yoki around me," answered the other Claymore. "If you would have fought us, you could not use your yoma powers. It's a trick I learned. Anyway, we have to leave this place, it's too dangerous. Will you trust us, Phantom Miria?"

"If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it a long time ago. If you want to hide from the organization, the Northern Lands would be the best place."

"Then follow me and stay close, we'll stay on the forest paths."

The two shadows moved out quickly, heading into the forest with speed. Miria was running behind and keeping pace with them. Through the dense forest, the light of the full moon started to pour through the leafage and onto the forest floor. The fallen leaves cracked with each of the agile steps, leaving a faint presence in the air as the three Claymores passed through. In the distant depths of the forest you could hear wolves howling. As the light hit the two Claymores, Miria was able to catch short glimpses of their armors and weapons, yet nothing too much, but enough to make her realize that those weren't ordinary Claymores. The night went on as the three made their way towards the frozen north.

They finally stopped on the edge of the forest after a night of running. A smooth plain stood before them, with the sharp mountains cropping out in the distance and, beyond them, their destination. The first rays of dawn rose over the eastern plain.

"We're far enough" said the second Claymore.

"I've followed you this far … now show yourselves" said Miria.

Both stood with their backs to Miria with their hoods on. Out of the cloak you could see a metal handle covered with leather straps, clearly showing a great sword was hidden underneath. With a soft laugh, both turned around and dropped their cloaks on the soft grass.

Miria stood nearly stunned as she gazed upon the two silver-eyed slayers. The two Claymores who she accompanied were males! With her mouth half-open, she couldn't even say anything coherent.

"Hahahaha", the first Claymore started to laugh out loud, "you should see the look on your face … you look like you've seen a phantom!".

"I'm not surprised, for them, we shouldn't even exists unless awakened." said the second one. "Miria, it's true. We're both males. My name is Dan and this is my friend, Rei.

"Pleased to meet'cha!" said Rei.

Dan was a bit taller than Rei. Strangely enough, his hair didn't went through the transformation so he had black hair, parted on a side, and silver eyes. He had a serious yet deceiving expression on his face. Just next to the right eye, a wide scar went from his forehead to his cheek. He wore a platemail with faulds on the side, a pair of dark leather pants and metal boots. His left arm was exposed, with only the shoulder covered by the shirt he wore underneath the platemail, showing his strong muscles. His right arm, on the other side, was heavily armored, with a finely crafted spaulder and a strong wrist guard, both united by small metal plates. To the wrist guard stood attached a blade that went from his elbow a bit over his wrist. The blade was sharp and shone in the light of the morning sun. His sword stood hidden behind his back, in an open scabbard that was part of his armor.

On the other side, Rei looked like his complete counterpart. He had light brown spiked hair and the same silver eyes. His face was grinning just at the mere expression of Miria and it was clear he was trying not to laugh. He wore a dark leather armor that seemed lighter than a feather compared to Dan's platemail. On his shoulders he had small metal spaulders rising up so his mobility was unaffected, and on his hands a pair of leather gauntlets with metal spikes. Apart from his faulds, similar to Dan's, he wore strange metal boots, with two thin and sharp blades coming up from the heel to the back of his knee. Even though it offered almost no protection, his mobility was unmatched in the light armor.

Miria regained her calm and examined the two unique warriors that stood in front of her. The gusts of wind traveling across the land made the untouched grass sway gently and caressed the three Claymores' hair.

"How …" asked Miria.

"How have we not awakened?" continued Dan. "Because we were already awakened when we were created. Just another one of the organization's sick projects. Experiments."

"What?"

"Experiments. We're the first male warriors created in a long time. We're stronger, faster and we don't feel the same sensation when releasing yoki."

"The northern campaign …"

"… was just a delaying for our release. They wanted to test us on the field, just after you failed. The organization didn't really expect for the Awakened Ones to stand down after the battle with you yet they did, just a postponement to our release. They were the prey, we were the predators … you were the bait."

"So, sister," said Rei with a smirk, "you've finally realized who are these cloaked warriors. Now it's time for our proposal … with mutual benefit, of course."


	3. Act I Scene III: The Enemy Of My Enemy

Act I: Scene III

The Enemy Of My Enemy ...

"I need a few answers first, then I'll hear you out" said Miria.

"Go ahead, I'll answer as much as I can. " said Dan.

The gentle wind still blew over the land. Rei grabbed his cloak from the grass and went a few steps down the plain, then laid back on the grass with his eyes closed. Dan picked up his cloak as well and sat down beside Rei, watching the white clouds passing above them. He turned his head to Miria, who was standing in the same place …

"Sit down" he said. "I don't like talking while standing."

Miria slowly stepped towards Dan, took her sword out and shoved it into the ground. She sat down with her back to the sword and gazed over the mountains, with her thoughts towards her other three companions.

"I knew this day would come …" she said. " … when the organization would finally track me down. But I wasn't expecting this. What are they planning to do?"

"Only if we knew" answered Rei.

"So how did this happened? How did you became monsters like us?"

"I don't like that word" said Dan. "We're still human until the day we awaken."

"You said something about "already awakening" … what do you mean?"

"Because that's how we were created. We're not made from yoma flesh and blood." replied Dan with a big sigh.

"The only flesh and blood that was shoved into us was that of the Awakened Ones" continued Rei. "By already awakening us, the side-effects were eliminated."

Miria stood shocked. While she was hiding, she tried to gather as much information about the organization as possible, but she never heard of such things.

"With strength and agility compared to that of an Awakened and mind of a human, it's quite correct to say we were created as the perfect weapons." said Dan.

"But that's not the end of it" said Rei. "We were trained in fighting every living thing in this land. Yomas … Awakened Ones … Claymores … Humans. They've turned us from monster slayers into lowly scum that kill everything for money."

"Mercenaries" continued Dan. "Where we're needed, we go. A city can hire us against bandits or even bandits can hire us against the guards of a city. The other experiments were scum from the start, they didn't care, but we two ran. I thought we were drawn into the project because we were avengers … each of us wanted to kill every yoma in existence for something … but I was wrong."

Miria closed her eyes and thought about how the organization wanted to manipulate everything. Even though it was faint, it all started to add up in her mind.

"Since you aren't the only ones", she asked, "how many of you were created?"

"Nine" answered Rei. "And we were assigned numbers as all the other slayers. I was number 3 and Dan here was number 4."

"The 3rd and 4th strongest?!" said Miria shocked.

Rei started laughing loud.

"Hahaha … no, no. If we were, why would we come for you? We were marked in the exact opposite order … the strongest one is number 9."

"We're currently the weakest ones alive." said Dan.

"What happened to the 1st and 2nd?" asked Miria.

"Apart from number 9, we were assigned in groups of two plus a supervisor like you, girls, have." answered Rei. "After we fled, two groups were sent to eliminate us from the picture. The first group, numbers 5 and 6, is on our tail. We avoided them back at the inn, thanks to Dan here. The second group, numbers 1 and 2, was killed after they tried to set a trap for us. They fought well but there was a gap between skill and experience … we killed them."

"So there are five remaining warriors apart from you. Where are the others?"

"As Rei said," continued Dan, "numbers 5 and 6 are searching for us. As for numbers 7 and 8, they are on a Claymore hunt in order to eradicate this generation, the last female generation."

"They were the ones killing Claymores everywhere." said Miria. "Dammit!"

"As for number 9, the strongest … I don't think anybody knows, we just saw him once, when they gave us our first orders."

"What were your first orders?"

A short silence overwhelmed the three. Rei looked away while Dan slightly lowered his head. With one deep breath, he opened his mouth …

"Assassination … we were supposed to take out an entire family in Rabona. We didn't object, we went there and tried to carry on our duty … but when we got there, we saw our targets. An elderly man with his wife … along with their 2 grandsons who were playing by the fire. They were so young you could hurt them with a pebble."

"So we ran … " said Rei. "We decided to defy our orders and run away. We later found out that when numbers 1 and 2 were sent out after us, their first targets were the family we spared … we didn't make it in time to save them, they were already slaughtered."

"That's why we killed numbers 1 and 2" continued Dan. "We released our powers and we began hurting them … we made them feel pain like never before. We were monsters for the few minutes they endured our torture. They begged us to stop until their last breath."

"Bastards deserved it." said Rei.

Now the silence grew deeper. Their thoughts scrambled towards different places and times. A slight smile appeared on Miria's face.

"I could have sworn that the other night you were there to kill me." she said. "Now I know I don't stand a chance now against neither of you, cloaked warriors. Here I stand, next to the two of you, with more information gathered about the organization in a few hours than I could scrape up in this year of exile."

"So?" spoke up Dan. "Can we say we have a bit of your trust right now?"

"You can," answered Miria, "for you have."

"Then hear our proposal." said Rei. "Tell her, Dan."

Dan stood up, looked in the distance and smirked.

"We're no match alone for the stronger warriors of our kin. I hate to admit it but we need your help as much as you need ours. We can fight them but we need support. We thought that if we can gather the surviving Claymores, especially the high-ranked ones, we could mount a defense. Heh, we could even survive if we're lucky."

"So what do you say?" asked Rei. "Will you fight with us against them?"

Miria quietly considered their proposal for a few seconds then gave an answer:

"Considering we can gather enough force and prepare, we can stand a chance. It would be foolish of me to deny an alliance with you."

"Is that a 'yes'?" said Rei.

"Very well, I shall aid you, but on one condition."

"Speak."

"You won't take any action without consulting with me first."

"Hold on a second, lady …" said Rei while getting up.

"Very well, it's decided." interrupted Dan. "Same goes to you, if we're gonna work together."

"Hmph … we need her help, not her plans, Dan!"

"Phantom Miria … haven't you heard? She was the leader in the Northern Campaign. Due to her skills, more than half of the Claymores sent there survived against overwhelming odds. I trust that she can help us with battle plans."

"Pfff … I'll accept … for now." said Rei and crashed back on the grass. "So what are your ideas for now, Miria?"

"As Dan said, we must find the remnants of my generation. I suggest we start going north, I doubt any Experiments went beyond the mountains."

"What can we find in the Northern Lands other than piles of snow and blocks of ice?" asked Rei. "The land is pretty desolate since the Campaign, rarely you stumble across a city that hasn't been razed yet."

"I know what we'll find there … " answered Miria. "A few trustworthy Claymores who still roam the lands."

"Any hints on the rank?" asked Dan.

"Don't be fooled of their numbers," said Miria, "they are strong enough to fight with us and they'll accept the offer if I come along … back in the organization, they were known as number 15, number 22 and number 47."


	4. Act II Scene I: Return 2 The Battlefield

Act II: Scene I

Return To The Battlefield

Through one of the mountain trails heading towards the Northern Land, two souls faced the harsh cold while walking to the ruined town of Pieta. The weather was eerily calm and only the sound of the snow crushed under their feet was heard. Large snowflakes dropped down from the clouded sky and landed on their frozen metal spaulders and their cloth cloaks. You could barely see the sun's warm rays through small patches of fading sky. In the distance, you could hear the sounds of animals once in a while … it seemed like those two were the only living creatures for miles and miles. They were walking a few meters from each other at the same pace, breathing a bit heavily due to the rarified air of the heights. The one at the rear ran a few steps to catch up and patted on the back the other one.

"Heeeey, Deneve! How long are we going to walk? Until we fall down?"

"We're walking for 2 days," answered Deneve, "I thought you would be stronger than this, Helen."

"Well, yeah," replied Helen with a grin, "but I'm hungry. Come on, I haven't ate anything since yesterday!"

"Your hunger surprises me. I'm wondering how much you ate before you became one of the organization."

"Bwehehe, what do you want? I like eating, keeps my mind off other things."

Deneve reached in her cloak, towards a small sack, and pulled out a big, red apple.

"Here," she said while throwing the fruit to Helen, "you like eating these, right?"

"That's why I love you so much, Deneve!"

Both stopped for a brief moment as they were entering a snow-covered plateau in the middle of the mountains. A few pine trees stood firm next to the mountain wall to their left and to their right the foundation of what once was a house or an inn. Deneve looked up towards the sky. The clouds were moving faster towards the north, over the cold plains, signs of a blizzard coming this way.

"We should find shelter for tonight." she said. "We walked enough so let's rest for tonight, we'll resume our trip in the morning."

"Hehe, that's what I'm talking about. Let's make a fire as well, just for the atmosphere. Hmm … now where to crash down?"

Both looked around the plateau to find cover. Other than the trees, frozen boulders and the ruin of the building, there didn't seem anything else existed around.

"Look, Deneve, over there!"

Helen was pointing at a cave with it's entrance half-covered by snow.

"I bet that's a good place, I like cozy caves!"

"Very well, let's see if we can rest well there" said Deneve and both stepped towards the entrance. A few hours later …

"Deneeeeeve." said Helen with a whine. "Come on, light that fire already."

"Will you quit whining, the wood isn't dry enough to light it" replied Deneve.

The two claymores in Deneve's hands scraped against each other, creating sparks that flew over the pile of wood. Suddenly, one side of a branch lit up.

"Don't even breathe." said Deneve while continuing to make sparks.

The flame lit up more and more until the logs finally started to catch fire. The room lit up with the pleasant orange glow and the warmth was spreading out slowly in all the corners of the small cavern.

"Reminds me of the old times" said Helen with a faint smile. "When we were with Clare and Miria … we haven't seen those two for a year now. I wonder if they'll show up as we promised?"

"They will." answered Deneve.

"Quite a coincidence that this thing started to happen right now. Not everyday you see so many of the Organization taken down."

"When we'll meet up with Miria she'll have an answer for all this. Until then, we need to look out for ourselves so we won't fall in the same trap. One way or another, we're still Claymores"

Suddenly, both of them turned their heads towards the entrance of the cave.

"Did you feel that?" asked Helen.

"Three of them." replied Deneve. "Awakened Ones by the yoki they're emanating. Be sure to suppress your power as much as you can, we shouldn't reveal ourselves."

"Roger."

Both Helen and Deneve sat up and went outside. The emanating yoki was felt from the valley a bit north of the plateau. Three Awakened Ones were more than a match so both decided to creep up along the wall until they can see what's happening.

"Something seems awfully strange, doesn't it, Deneve?" said Helen.

"I think … they're fighting each other." said Deneve with a weird look.

Coming up to a clearing, Deneve and Helen crouched down and looked over the huge slope that split the plateau of the big valley. They stood shocked for a moment as they witnessed 2 cloaked human-like beings attacking a monstrous Awakened One. Both warriors were moving with a speed greater than that of a Claymore and were emanating large amounts of yoki, thus the feeling of three Awakened Ones. Running between the trees and dashing from both sides just to run between its feet and give it a slight scratch on the skin, it seemed more like they were playing with it rather than seriously fighting it. After a minute of running around and dodging the attacks, both stopped and talked to each other for a few seconds, then immediately attacked at full speed, bringing down the Awakened One in just a swift blow to the neck. The great Awakened fell down on its front legs and slammed sideways on the ground, blowing up the snow as it fell. A few seconds after, one of them started to chop the corpse into pieces with the sword like a madman until the body was split into tens of pieces, with only the head left intact.

"What the hell are those things?" said Helen.

"I don't know but I don't want to find out right now." said Deneve. "Whatever they are, they could be responsible for the many Claymores who fell lately."

"And why were they emanating so much yoki?"

"Probably to play with the Awakened One. I think you felt as well how hard it was to track it's movements with so much yoki in the area. It's like covering a rock with a mound of snow."

"You feel it too, don't you? The faint sound of this place. It's still a battlefield, isn't it, Deneve? After all this time, it's like the war isn't over yet."

"I have a feeling it hasn't even begun yet. Let us rest for tonight, tomorrow we head towards the meeting point, maybe we'll find Clare and Miria already there. I doubt those things sensed us being this far away, I don't think we're in danger."

Both returned to the cave, thinking deeply about what they saw today.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, the two cloaked warriors talked.

"Honestly, Raphael, why do you have to chop the corpses into pieces every single time? I really don't get your hobbies." said the first one.

"Revenge, my dear partner, Swane … revenge!" answered the second one. "It's so sweet to feel their flesh on my blade, it gives me the shivers."

"YOU give me the shivers. And still, we were supposed to be on the look-out for Claymores, I heard they were still around."

"Ah, but they are! They were looking at us actually! Quite a show for them, I could tell the idiotic faces they were making even if they WERE suppressing their yoki. Hehehe, I can't WAIT to jump on them and humiliate them right before I slice them open SLOWLY."

"For number 8, you sure are a sick one."

"And for number 7, you sure are a noisy one."

"Quiet down, you two!" said a man from the woods. "Stop fooling around with the Awakened Ones in this land, you're even releasing parts of your power. I bring you new orders from the Organization."

"Ah, fresh prey!" said number 8. "Where to?"

"Your target is way south, past the city of Rabona, hiding in the forests. She's the former number 3, Galatea. Her yoki sensing abilities is greater than the average target so she must be taken out before she can cause any trouble. Kill her and return to Rabona, you will get further orders there."

"The hunt is on! Come on, my partner, Swane! We have traitors to kill!"


End file.
